Virginia Tech fans got some big news this afternoon when the school announced that athletic director Whit Babcock had been given a contract extension through the 2024 season.

Babcock has been in Blacksburg less than three years, but in his short time he’s impressed the fanbase, and the writers here at TSL, with his coaching hires and his ability to manage the athletic department.  From hiring Buzz Williams and Justin Fuente to signing up corporate sponsors such as Carilion and Union Bank, he’s hit the ground running and shows no signs of letting up.

I remember the day when the news of Babcock’s hiring broke.  The initial response by many on the message boards was something like “Who?  We’re Virginia Tech…we can do a lot better than the Cincinnati AD!”  I’ll admit that my first though was “Who?”  But I did my research, and after learning about him, his career, his experience at various schools, and his fundraising ability, I thought he seemed like the right fit.  There wasn’t much to go on with regards to his ability to hire coaches, but on the whole, I thought it was a very good hire.

Here we are less than three years later, and Babcock appears to be more than just a very good hire.  It seems as if the Virginia Tech administration hit a walkoff homer.  Today’s announcement of a contract extension was fantastic news from where I sit.

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